Sunday, 27 December 2015

LAST WEEK HERE

Kasia and I domophoning to get into the building of the member we were snowflaking

Kasia and I with the 'snowflaked' door

Sister Young, Kasia and I with our snowflakes

Us with Olga at the chapel

And Sister Young thinking she's coming with me to Australia ;)

Me with Kasia (from Gdynia) and Krowa (dog named 'cow')

Me and Sister Young

Me with Wioletta

Our district singing Kolędy (carols) at the Care Home

This week is my last week here- how
strange! Well, I guess it's not so strange, I mean it had to happen
eventually, it's just a weird feeling to be at this point already. This
past week we've had yet more great experiences. Yesterday we got to help
out at an elderly home and we all had such a good time :D Sometimes
people/organisations are hesitant to let us help out/give service,
because they're afraid/don't like that we're mormons (we were looking
for some opportunities to serve and were rejected a couple of times on
that basis). But last week Sister Young and I went to a Dom Opieki (care
home/home for the elderly) and asked if there was something we could do
to help out, like sing carols or organise/clean etc. The ladies there
were so excited to have us help out (even after finding out that we
weren't Catholic), and invited us to sing at their Christmas
party/celebration. So that was yesterday, and we were greeted and
treated very kindly by the workers, priests and guests, and it felt so
good to see people singing and smiling along with us- celebrating the
birth and life of Christ! They even fed us afterwards (even though we
didn't want them to, because we wanted to be the ones doing the
washing up and everything!), it was very kind of them. Although I won't
be here for much longer, I'm excited for the other missionaries here to
continue to have good contact with those people and hopefully they'll
have plenty more opportunities to serve and help out there. They're
going to have a mini play/reenactment of the nativity early next year
actually (the Christmas season in parts of Europe carries on longer than
it does in Australia), and one of the ladies asked if the missionaries
could help out with that. She really wanted Sister Young to be Mary
because she looks the part hehehe, well that'll be a good experience for
whoever's here next transfer :)

Oh, this past week we got
to meet with a lot of the branch members! We met with Kasia (she's in
Young Women's) and made snowflakes, then 'snowflaked' (taped them up on)
another member's door and left cookies for her. Hehe it was pretty fun-
and a little tricky, because we had to be super quiet, and ask a
neighbour to let us in the apartment complex! We got to meet with
Marzena and teach her about Family History :) She created an account and
got started right away (I got to show her my account and family tree,
and she thought it was pretty cool!). We showed her how you can add
photos and stories, and how connections are made etc. And of course most
importantly, the WHY behind Family History work in the church- it helps
us feel more connected to our ancestors, we remember and honour them,
and we perform saving ordinances like baptism for them by proxy in the
temple. It was so awesome to see such enthusiasm for doing this work
from her so immediately! We also got to meet with some members to
practice musical items for our Sacrament Meeting (of course, Christmas
focused), and then singing them on Sunday
was lovely :) We also got to meet with Kasia (from Gdynia) and talk
about Family History work (it was possibly my last time seeing her, so
that's really sad for me, but I'm so glad we have the internet!). We got
to meet with Olga (also my last time seeing her) and read a General
Conference talk with her about finding answers to our sincere questions
-our lesson was perfect timing, because the Polish General Conference
Liahonas only just got to our chapel a couple of hours before the
lesson. Witali and Marzena gave us cute Christmas presents (angel candle
holder things), and we gave them a photo album with photos from their
wedding day (Sister Young was the photographer). I'm really going to
miss all of the wonderful people I've met here. Gdańsk will always hold
such a special place in my heart, and I can't wait until I get another
chance to be here. The people I've met mean so much to me, and all the
experiences I've had here have moulded me into the better person I am
today (and I know I of course still have a long way to go haha!).

I
look forward to talking with you on Christmas Day and then it really
won't be long at all until I'm back in that Australian heat with all of
you!Love you so much,Siostra Grgich

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About Me

I love travelling and meeting new people and having lots of fun. I served a mission in Poland for a year and a half for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2014-2015. I lived in Germany as a nanny in 2013. I like Tim-Tam slamming and riding my pet kangaroo around the backyard.